Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Update

Victoria Atkins: I have requested that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conduct a special review of mental health services in Nottinghamshire under s.48 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.Like many of my Parliamentary colleagues, I was appalled by the horrendous and tragic killings of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham in June 2023. I would like to place on record my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of Barnaby, Grace and Ian.The CQC special review will focus on reviewing the care provided by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and identifying where things may have gone wrong. This will give the families much-needed answers and will help identify how to improve the standard of mental health care in Nottinghamshire.Any concerns regarding patient safety, quality of care, or public safety will be reported by the CQC, who will consider carefully the available relevant evidence including witness and other oral evidence made public during the criminal trial of Valdo Calocane.It is essential we move quickly to get the answers we need. This is why I am asking the CQC to conclude their investigation by the end of March at the very latest.This special review will proceed alongside the Trust’s own internal investigation and NHS England’s Independent Mental Health Homicide Review, which is standard practice in these cases. I expect all parties to share information to avoid duplication and make sure that we receive as full a picture as possible. The CQC review will focus on this case and on wider issues in mental health care provision in Nottinghamshire, including at Highbury Hospital and Rampton Hospital.I would also like to take this opportunity to update the House on the next steps of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) investigation into mental health inpatient settings, which my predecessor announced in June 2023, in response to a number of tragic incidents that had taken place across the country.Since June, the HSSIB, and its predecessor, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), has undertaken significant preparatory work, including holding over 30 meetings as part of the process of determining the scope of the investigation, and have reviewed the research evidence on safety.The terms of reference for the investigation have today been published on the HSSIB website (https://www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/). There will be four investigations, which will focus on the themes of:Learning from inpatient mental health deaths, and near misses, to improve patient safety.The provision of safe care during transition from children and young person to adult, inpatient mental health services.Impact of out of area placements on the safety of mental health patients.Creating the conditions for staff to deliver safe and therapeutic care – workforce, relationships, environments.The investigations will identify risks to the safety of patients and the HSSIB will seek to address those risks by making recommendations to facilitate the improvement of systems and practices in the provision of mental health care in England. This will include consideration of patient and staff safety with regard to allegations of sexual assault and rape. The investigations will conclude by the end of 2024.Patient voice will be integral to the HSSIB’s investigation and report. They have been in touch with patients and families who have experienced poor care, as well as their parliamentary representatives, and are working with patient advocates and the charitable sector to arrange focus groups to support these investigations.The HSSIB can also be contacted directly by any patient, carer or family member who want to share their experiences about the mental healthcare they or their loved ones has received by emailing enquiries@hssib.org.uk. I would strongly encourage all Members to highlight this opportunity to their constituents who may feel they would like to engage with this process and have their voices heard.

Update on Measles

Maria Caulfield: Following my written statement of 22 January 2024, I wish to provide a further update to the House on the actions that the Government and health system are taking in response to an increase in measles cases in England, particularly in the West Midlands. The Current Measles Outbreak Between the 1 October 2023 and the 23 January 2024 there have been 347 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England, with 127 of these cases confirmed in January 2024. From 30 January, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will publish national laboratory confirmed measles case numbers on Gov.UK weekly rather than the previous monthly cycle. This will provide more frequent and up-to-date information to support preparedness and response activity while measles cases remain raised. Actions Underway to Protect the Public Measles is a vaccine preventable disease, with long lasting immunity provided through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. To support increasing the uptake of the MMR vaccine, NHS England has rapidly implemented a catch-up campaign for missed MMR vaccines as part of a major drive to protect children from becoming seriously unwell as measles continues to rise in parts of the country. From 6 February, parents and carers of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children aged 6 to 11 will receive a first reminder letter, text or email inviting them to make an appointment with their child’s GP practice for their missed MMR vaccine. From 12 March second reminders will begin to be sent. This national campaign supplements existing measures underway to work with specific communities to boost uptake in priority areas, for example, by offering MMR pop-ups and whole-school vaccination campaigns. Extensive local engagement and communications have also been undertaken with community and faith leaders to encourage groups less likely to get their jab to come forward. Additionally, in London and the West Midlands, the first reminder invitation letters, texts or emails will be sent in February to the parents and carers of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children aged 11 to 16 and, following that, to young people aged 16 to 25 to invite them to catch up on their missed MMR vaccinations. This will be followed by a second reminder to these age groups in March. Reminders will also be accessible for those over 16 who utilise the NHS app. In the West Midlands, strategic partnership groups are in place in three of six NHSE Integrated Care Board areas to oversee planning, delivery and response across the health system. The other three Integrated Care Boards also work on a multi-agency basis to assess preparedness and response activities. UKHSA West Midlands and regional Department for Education colleagues hosted a webinar for education and early years settings last week with over 650 attendees. This focused on describing the signs and symptoms of measles, what schools need to know and how they can access more support. In addition, UKHSA West Midlands and NHS Midlands hosted a webinar for clinicians and frontline staff in maternity services with over 280 attendees, and significant work across the region to promote MMR vaccination continues through a range of mechanisms, including social media and community engagement at a local level. I will also be chairing a regular measles ministerial coordination board, bringing together local and national actors to bring the current outbreak under control. Work also continues at pace across England regions, particularly in London, to prepare for the possibility of further cases and outbreaks, learning from the West Midlands experience. This preparation includes a multi-agency planning exercise led by UKHSA that was focused on a potential outbreak in London and exercising the response to that. Correction to written statement UIN HCWS200 I would like to amend the written statement I gave the House on 22 January 2024 and an answer I gave to the House on the same day in response to an Urgent Question from the Hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill MP). In the written statement and at the Urgent Question, I stated that an existing MMR vaccination campaign by NHS England had resulted in a 10% increase in vaccine uptake compared to the previous year. I would like to clarify that this 10% increase is not an overall figure but rather refers to the proportion of children aged 1-5 who came forward for their MMR jab as a result of having been identified as eligible for and/or missing one or both doses and contacted proactively by the NHS between September 22 and February 23 last year to get the jab. The figure I quoted was from a published NHS England press release, which was corrected on 23 January 2024.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Social Housing Update

Lee Rowley: Social housing is a finite resource and in any compassionate society it is incumbent upon the Government of the day to ensure it is utilised in the most effective way to support those who truly need it and those who play by the rules. This is not least because those fortunate enough to get a social home benefit from paying below market rents and almost all will have the security of that social home for life.Over one million households are on the social housing waiting list and around a quarter-of-a-million new tenancies are agreed each year. It is therefore important that social housing is fairly allocated. The British public want to know that decent and hardworking people who have contributed to this country can secure a home in their local community. People already living in social homes want to know that anyone moving near them will be respectful of their neighbours. That is why the Government is going to make sure that all applicants and tenants benefit from a system that rewards responsible behaviour and protects local households, while supporting the most vulnerable and those in priority need.Today we are launching a consultation on our proposed reforms regarding who is eligible and who qualifies for social housing, and how local housing authorities decide to allocate social housing stock where demand exceeds supply. The changes seek to prevent people who abuse the system from benefiting at the expense of those who have played by the rules.The reforms would apply both to new applicants in England and those who are already on a social housing waiting list. The introduction of a UK connection test and new qualification tests (local connection test, terrorism and anti-social behaviour tests, false statement test and income test) will apply to new social housing applicants and those on a waiting list, meaning those currently living in social housing would not be subject to these new tests. The new ground for eviction for unspent terrorism convictions, as well as the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy for anti-social behaviour, would apply to those currently living in social housing as well as future tenants.When drawing up qualification tests, local housing authorities decide on matters including when to prioritise those newly arrived in the country or a local area over local families; and under which circumstances they should allocate a social home to a high-income household over a lower income one, or to grant social housing to those who commit anti-social behaviour. Our proposals seek to set a national minimum standard for qualification tests while still allowing for local flexibility.Social housing waiting lists have stabilised at around 1.2m after rising from 1m in 1997 to 1.7m in 2010 under the last Labour Government. The waiting list remains too high, but it is also essential that local housing authorities do not disproportionately allocate social housing to those newly arrived in the country or local area whilst local families are left on waiting lists. In Labour-run Brent, 40% of new social lets in 2021/22 were to non-British citizens. In Labour-run Oxford the figure was 25% and in Labour-run Haringey the figure was 24%.The Government believes that everyone has the right to a safe, decent and warm home that meets their needs. We have made significant progress both to increase the quality and quantity of social housing, and at the same time to hold negligent landlords to account.Under the Affordable Homes Programme, the Government is spending over £11.5 billion of taxpayers’ money to deliver more than 100,000 affordable homes, among them tens of thousands specifically for social rent. This will unlock a further £38 billion in public and private spending in affordable housing. It builds on the Government’s record since 2010 – with over 696,000 new affordable homes delivered, including over 172,000 for social rent. Through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, we have strengthened the powers of the Regulator of Social Housing, and improved residents’ ability to seek redress by granting new powers to the Housing Ombudsman.Overview of proposalsThe new set of tests on which we are seeking views are as follows:UK connection test – requiring people to be a British citizen, Irish citizen, Commonwealth citizen with a right of abode, or EEA or Swiss citizen with equal treatment rights in matters of housing under the Withdrawal Agreement, the EEA-EFTA Separation Agreement or the Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement, or otherwise to have been lawfully resident in the UK for ten years, in order to be eligible for social housing. We are consulting on an exemption for those arriving via safe and legal resettlement routes and the Ukrainian temporary visa schemes. This will allow for the allocation of more social homes to those with the strongest connection to the UK, while enabling the Government to continue to deliver its commitments to provide urgent humanitarian support.Local connection test – preventing individuals from being allocated social housing if they have not had links to the local authority area for two years e.g., through residence or work. This will ensure greater consistency across the country and ensure more local people can access social housing in the area they call home where they need it, supporting people to put down roots and maintain links to family and community.Income test – households earning above a maximum threshold (to be defined following responses to the consultation) would not qualify for social housing. This would only apply to new tenants and existing tenants would be unaffected.Anti-social behaviour test – disqualifying people who have unspent convictions for certain criminal anti-social behaviour offences, as well as certain civil orders, from social housing for a defined period.Terrorism test – we propose that people who have unspent terrorism convictions should be disqualified from social housing unless excluding them would increase the risk to public safety.False statement test – mandating a period of disqualification for those who knowingly or recklessly make false statements when applying for social housing.The Government does not believe that those who repeatedly commit acts of anti-social behaviour or have unspent terrorism offences should continue to access social homes whilst law-abiding individuals remain on waiting lists. We are keen that all social landlords should be able to evict those who have unspent convictions for terrorist offences; we are also committed to a ‘three strikes and you're out’ expectation of social housing landlords, as set out in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan published last year. This means that they will be expected to evict tenants whose behaviour is disruptive to neighbours and jeopardises community cohesion.To ensure that the reforms are informed by the expertise of local housing authorities, social landlords, tenants and the wider public, the full consultation launched today will run for eight weeks. Reforms based on the consultation responses will ensure that waiting lists are managed effectively and that more social housing is allocated to those with the closest connection to the UK and their local area. Changes will be delivered by secondary legislation at the earliest opportunity.The proposals will help to fulfil the Government’s pledge to tackle anti-social behaviour, and ensure we preserve and protect the country’s social housing.A copy of the consultation document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on GOV.UK.

Home Office

Independent Office for Police Conduct Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23

James Cleverly: I am today along with my hon Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston), publishing the annual report and accounts of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The report has been laid before the House and copies will be available in the Vote Office.

Legal Migration Implementation Update

Tom Pursglove: Our points-based immigration system allows us to control who comes to the UK to work, study and visit. It enables the Government to prioritise the skills and talent we need to help our economy grow and support our NHS, while encouraging investment in, and protecting, our resident workforce. On 4 December 2023, the Government announced a major package of measures to curb immigration abuse and further reduce net migration. Since the pandemic, the UK has experienced unprecedented levels of immigration. This is in large part due to growth in humanitarian routes like Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan, as well as growth in health and social care visas, and students. The latest official estimates show that net migration in the year to June 2023 was 672,000 - up significantly on pre-pandemic volumes, but lower than the estimated 745,000 who came in the year to December 2022. The Government is clear that this level of net migration is too high and must come down swiftly to avoid unsustainable pressure on public services and housing. In May 2023, the Government took decisive action to prevent students from using the student route to access work prior to completion of their studies and arrest the substantial rise in the number of students bringing dependants to the UK. These reforms have been implemented. The ability for students to switch out of the student route early ended on 17 July 2023 and from 1 January 2024, student visa holders can only bring dependants if they are studying for a multi-year post-graduate research degree. The measures announced in May and December 2023 mean that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future. Good progress has been made on implementing the package announced on 4 December: On 19 February, we intend to lay Immigration Rules which will remove the right for care workers and senior care workers to bring dependants, which will come into force on 11 March 2024. The rules will ensure that care providers in England will only be able to sponsor migrant workers if they are undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This will help tackle the abuse of the Health and Care Visa route that we have seen and ensure that those coming through this route genuinely support the social care system. On 14 March, we intend to lay Immigration Rules to increase the earnings thresholds for those arriving on the Skilled Worker route, with the minimum threshold rising by 48% from £26,200 to £38,700. These changes will come into force from 4 April and will ensure that our immigration system is focused on attracting skilled, highly paid talent from around the world. Those coming on the Health and Care Visa route will be exempted from this specific threshold so we can continue to bring the healthcare workers that our care sector and NHS need. We are also exempting workers on national payscale occupations. On 17 January we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to carry out a rapid review of the Shortage Occupation List to inform which occupations should be temporarily added to an Immigration Salary List from early April. The Immigration Rules we intend to lay on 14 March will remove the 20% going rate discount for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List, as well as temporarily add any occupations as recommended by the MAC to the new Immigration Salary List. On Family visas, we will bring this in line with the new minimum general salary threshold for a Skilled Worker of £38,700. We will raise the minimum income for Family visas incrementally, in stages, to give predictability to families. The Immigration Rules we intend to lay on 14 March will set out that from 11 April we will raise the threshold to £29,000 - that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for Skilled Worker visas. We will incrementally increase the threshold to the 40th percentile (currently £34,500), and finally to the 50th percentile (currently £38,700, and the level at which the General Skilled Worker threshold is set) by early 2025. This major package of measures sits alongside our major transformation of the border and immigration system to deliver a simple, quick, digital end-to end customer journey, while strengthening border security. A key part of this transformation is the introduction of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme. ETAs are a new requirement for passengers visiting or transiting through the UK who do not currently need a visa for short stays or who do not already have any other UK immigration status before travelling. The scheme will increase our knowledge about people in advance of travel, which will not only make the UK safer, but help deliver our ambition to increase automation of passenger clearance at the border. The scheme is being introduced in a phased manner, on a nationality-by-nationality basis. As of November 2023, it is now a requirement for nationals of Qatar to obtain an ETA prior to travel to the UK. On 1 February 2024 the scheme will be extended to the remaining Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE – and Jordan. Other nationalities will be added to the scheme later this year. All of the above changes show that we welcome those who are here to contribute their skills and talents to the UK, but it is not a right to come here. Those who come must be willing to contribute to our country. In keeping with this, those who use and benefit from our public services, such as the NHS, should make a sufficient financial contribution towards the cost of those services. Legislation has been passed this month to enable the Immigration Health Surcharge to be raised by 66% to £1,035, in respect of applications made on or after 06 February 2024. The new rate reflects the increases in healthcare expenditure and better reflects NHS service use by payers, remembering that payment of the charge provides near comprehensive access to our health service. The level of IHS will be kept under regular review to ensure it covers the cost of treating IHS payers. We continue to keep all aspects of our immigration and border system under review to ensure it works for the British people and our economy.

Department for Education

Update on Wave 4 T Levels and overlapping qualifications

Robert Halfon: As part of our delivery of wave 4 T Levels and our assessment of overlap between T Levels and Technical Qualifications we have been consulting with employers and representatives from many sectors.After discussions with representatives of the hair and beauty sector, we have decided to separate our plans for a combined T Level in Hair and Beauty. The beauty sector has fed back that a good quality level 3 classroom-based progression route is desirable. Therefore, this government will explore introducing a T Level which focuses on the beauty sector, with the expectation that this could be introduced after 2025.This differs from feedback we have had from representatives in the hair sector which has led us to conclude that the best route is for learners to progress into their industry through completion of an existing level 2 or level 3 apprenticeship or a level 2 classroom-based qualification. As such, we will no longer be introducing a combined T Level.To support apprenticeships in the hair sector, we have increased funding for apprenticeships in these industries and funding uplifts of 57% for the Level 2 Hairdressing Professional standard and 28% for the Level 2 Barbering apprenticeship.T Levels remain our flagship technical qualification for 16-19 year olds, with tens of thousands of students studying or having studied T Levels, and they will form the backbone of the Advanced British Standard. The Secretary of State made a statement on 9 March 2023 (Statement UIN HCWS619) on the future T Level roll out. I am pleased to announce that we are on track to deliver the T Levels in Media, Broadcast and Production and Craft and Design for September 2024, alongside the Animal Care and Management T Level, as well as the Marketing T Level from September 2025. This will bring our portfolio of T Levels to 21 from September 2024, and 22 from September 2025.With today’s announcement we are alsopublishing the provisional list of 71 technical qualifications that have been assessed to overlap with Wave 4 T Levels rolled out in or before 2024, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wave-4-t-levels-overlapping-qualifications. These are Agriculture, Land Management and Production; Animal Care and Management; Craft and Design; Legal Services; and Media, Broadcast and Production. Subject to the outcomes of an appeal process which gives awarding organisations the opportunity to contest a qualification’s placement on the list, we will withdraw 16-19 public funding for new starts on these qualifications from 1 August 2025. 16-19 year-olds enrolled on these 71 qualifications accounted for around 1% of all total enrolments for 16-19 year olds. 11 of the qualifications had no enrolments and a further 23 had fewer than 100 enrolments in the 2021/22 academic year, highlighting the need to streamline the qualifications system. Removing funding from technical qualifications which overlap with T Levels will ensure young people can feel confident that they are studying technical qualifications which will prepare them for jobs in their chosen occupation.This is the final part of phase 2 of our reforms removing qualifications that overlap with waves 1-4 T Levels.

Treasury

Update on the Overseas Funds Regime: The UK's Equivalence Assessment of the EEA states

Bim Afolami: Today I am notifying the House about the Government’s decision regarding the equivalence assessment for states in the European Economic Area (EEA), including European Union (EU) member states, under the UK’s Overseas Funds Regime (OFR).Asset management makes an invaluable contribution to the health of both the UK economy and individuals’ savings. The UK sector is the second largest globally and manages the savings and pensions of millions of UK citizens. Asset managers often set up their investment funds internationally, marketing their funds to investors in the UK and around the world.In the Financial Services Act 2021, the Government legislated for a new Overseas Funds Regime, to create a more streamlined process for overseas investment funds to be sold to UK investors. Given the importance of funds domiciled in the EEA to the UK market, it was determined that an equivalence assessment of the EEA would be the first to be conducted under this regime.Today I can confirm that, following a detailed assessment, the Government has found the EEA states, including the EU member states, equivalent under the OFR. To enact this decision, secondary legislation will be required, when parliamentary time allows. The Government does not intend to require the funds assessed to comply with any additional UK requirements as part of this equivalence determination at this time.This decision will apply to Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities except those which are also Money Market Funds (MMFs), as there is ongoing regulatory development in this area.In accordance with the principles set out in the Guidance Document for the UK’s Equivalence Framework for Financial Services, the UK will monitor this equivalence decision on an ongoing basis, in light of UK and EEA regulatory developments.Separate to the assessment of the EEA, the Government recognises that there are ongoing regulatory developments in relation to sustainable disclosure requirements (SDR). The Government intends to consult on whether to broaden the scope of SDR to include funds recognised under the OFR. The government will ensure that there is adequate time for industry to adapt to any future requirements.Currently, EEA funds which were marketing in the UK prior to EU exit are able to continue doing so under temporary arrangements. This arrangement was due to expire at the end of 2025. Today, I can also confirm the Government’s intention to extend this arrangement until the end of 2026, to ensure funds are able to smoothly transition to the OFR.Today’s announcements demonstrate the Government’s commitment to maintaining a safe, open and globally integrated financial system, enabling international financial services business by reducing barriers and frictions, where safe and practicable.